*Players are listed in the table in order of preference for the day of action. The write-ups are listed in alphabetical order for ease of reading.
CATCHER
Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | BA | BA | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
James McCann | DET | R | KC | Danny Duffy | L | .375 | .254 | 1.078 | .641 | .462 | .283 | 0.565 | 3750 | 2900 | 2700 |
Jason Castro | HOU | L | TEX | Yovani Gallardo | R | .237 | .220 | .595 | .738 | .263 | .328 | 1.438 | 4500 | 3100 | 2600 |
J.T. Realmuto | MIA | R | NYM | Jon Niese | L | .328 | .228 | .894 | .614 | .388 | .269 | 0.250 | 4650 | 3200 | 3000 |
Salvador Perez | KC | R | DET | Justin Verlander | R | .189 | .266 | .526 | .730 | .229 | .319 | 0.174 | 4650 | 3000 | 2200 |
Castro has three homers his last four games. He’s driven in three runs in each of those outings, four one time actually, for a total of 10. He’s also hit a homer with a 1.143 OPS against Gallardo over 21 plate appearances.
McCann has hit .285 at home this season. When a lefty is on the bump he’s been a mashing with a .375/.417/.661 line over 60 plate appearances.
Perez has 35 at-bats against Verlander. He has 17 hits (.429) with a homer, seven doubles and 10 RBIs. That’s some pretty impressive BvP.
Realmuto has a matchup with Niese and is hitting .328 with a .369 OBP and .525 SLG versus lefties.
FIRST BASE
Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | BA | BA | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
Lucas Duda | NYM | L | MIA | Brad Hand | L | .299 | .227 | .898 | .809 | .390 | .360 | 1.630 | 5200 | 4300 | 4200 |
Edwin Encarnacion | TOR | R | MIN | Phil Hughes | R | .261 | .241 | .746 | .808 | .344 | .357 | 0.952 | 5550 | 4100 | 4500 |
Victor Martinez | DET | B | KC | Danny Duffy | L | .361 | .213 | .912 | .604 | .407 | .273 | 0.300 | 4850 | 3100 | 2600 |
Mike Napoli | BOS | R | NYY | Masahiro Tanaka | R | .237 | .191 | .865 | .614 | .376 | .280 | 0.731 | 4800 | 3300 | 2600 |
Duda has a homer and 1.114 OPS against Hand in 15 plate appearances. He also has nine homers in his last nine games overall.
Encarnacion has hit .350 with a homer and six RBIs against Hughes as he’s posted a .925 OPS. Hughes allowed two homers last time out and 13 big flies in 10 outings.
Martinez has hit .361 with a .912 OPS against lefties this season.
Napoli has two homers his last five games. He’s driven in five runs in that time. He’s also hit 17 homers with a .305 batting average over 71 games against the Yankees. He’s 3-for-6 with two homers against Tanaka.
SECOND BASE
Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | BA | BA | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
DJ LeMahieu | COL | R | SEA | Vidal Nuno | L | .318 | .323 | .743 | .807 | .340 | .357 | 0.839 | 4900 | 4000 | |
Jonathan Schoop | BAL | R | OAK | Chris Bassitt | R | .229 | .323 | .613 | .999 | .272 | .430 | 1.000 | 4150 | 3400 | 2200 |
Jedd Gyorko | SD | R | MIL | Jimmy Nelson | R | .291 | .224 | .891 | .588 | .399 | .263 | 0.967 | 3800 | 2400 | 2300 |
Cesar Hernandez | PHI | B | LA | Alex Wood | L | .356 | .249 | .858 | .660 | .382 | .301 | 0.701 | 4500 | 2800 | 3100 |
DJL seems to be on here a lot, right? He faces Nuno having hit a solid .318 with a .402 OBP against lefties. He’s also a dynamo at home (.338/.400/.446).
Gyorko over his last seven games: .407/.467/.556 with five RBIs.
Hernandez has a hit in seven of eight games (five times he’s had two hits). He’s also scored six runs in seven games. He’s hitting .351 with a .415 OBP against lefties.
Schoop has rapped out five base knocks the last two days. He’s had success against righties too with a .323 average and whopping .646 SLG (six homers, 65 ABs).
THIRD BASE
Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | BA | BA | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
Alex Rodriguez | NYY | R | BOS | Henry Owens | L | .283 | .275 | 1.065 | .857 | .460 | .379 | 0.824 | 5400 | 4800 | 4300 |
Yangervis Solarte | SD | B | MIL | Jimmy Nelson | R | .212 | .276 | .590 | .765 | .262 | .336 | 1.242 | 4500 | 3000 | 2800 |
Matt Carpenter | STL | L | CIN | Anthony DeSclafani | R | .238 | .273 | .714 | .851 | .316 | .379 | 1.180 | 4850 | 4400 | 3200 |
Evan Longoria | TB | R | CWS | Chris Sale | L | .329 | .260 | .894 | .734 | .405 | .328 | 1.031 | 4900 | 3400 | 2900 |
Carpenter, his last five games, has five runs, five RBIs, three homers and three walks. Lefties have a .347 OBP against DeSclafani.
Longoria has eight hits his last four games. He’s also sporting a .302/.371/.456 slash line at night. He’s the owner of a .329/.418/.476 slash line aginast lefties in a tough matchup.
Rodriguez has a 1.024 OPS his last 15 games. He has a .967 mark at home this year. He has a 1.065 mark against lefties.
Solarte has two homers, seven RBIs, six runs scored and a well above .500 wOBA in that time. Hot, hot, hot.
SHORTSTOP
Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | BA | BA | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
Carlos Correa | HOU | R | TEX | Yovani Gallardo | R | .323 | .283 | 1.009 | .869 | .437 | .376 | 1.194 | 5000 | 5200 | 4400 |
Adeiny Hechavarria | MIA | R | NYM | Jon Niese | L | .384 | .248 | .992 | .602 | .431 | .267 | 0.680 | 4700 | 3300 | 2400 |
Jose Iglesias | DET | R | KC | Danny Duffy | L | .373 | .300 | .936 | .708 | .413 | .318 | 0.700 | 4700 | 3100 | 2700 |
Freddy Galvis | PHI | B | LA | Alex Wood | L | .364 | .250 | .776 | .656 | .344 | .293 | 0.783 | 3850 | 3000 | 2800 |
Correa has four homers his last four games with six RBIs. He also has a hit in 8-straight games.
Galvis has two hits each of his last two games. He’s had two hits in three of four games. He’s batting .291 at home and has gone 6-for-10 against Wood.
Hechavarria faces Niese hitting a cool .384 with a .992 OPS against lefties this season.
Iglesias has two hits in three of his last four outings. He’s scored five runs in that time. He’s hitting .344 at home with a .387 OBP and he’s hit .373 with a .429 OBP against lefties.
OUTFIELD
Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | BA | BA | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
Nelson Cruz | SEA | R | COL | Jon Gray | R | .393 | .301 | 1.207 | .908 | .527 | .395 | 1.469 | 5900 | 6100 | 5400 |
Dexter Fowler | CHI | B | PIT | J.A. Happ | L | .325 | .220 | .810 | .691 | .365 | .311 | 0.879 | 4900 | 3800 | 2800 |
Nori Aoki | SF | L | ATL | Shelby Miller | R | .333 | .301 | .772 | .748 | .354 | .334 | 0.565 | 4800 | 3400 | 2500 |
Marlon Byrd | CIN | R | STL | John Lackey | R | .290 | .238 | .900 | .749 | .392 | .327 | 1.000 | 4900 | 3700 | 3000 |
Michael Bourn | CLE | L | LAA | Matt Shoemaker | R | .235 | .249 | .606 | .610 | .280 | .278 | 1.000 | 4000 | 2600 | 2400 |
Dexter Fowler | CHI | B | PIT | J.A. Happ | L | .325 | .220 | .810 | .691 | .365 | .311 | 0.879 | 4900 | 3800 | 2800 |
Nick Markakis | ATL | L | SF | Jake Peavy | R | .274 | .302 | .658 | .776 | .296 | .351 | 0.893 | 4850 | 3300 | 2900 |
Alex Rios | KC | R | DET | Justin Verlander | R | .231 | .245 | .563 | .593 | .258 | .266 | 0.136 | 4300 | 3100 | 2200 |
Aoki has hit Miller well going 8-for-21 with a homer (.381). He’s the best hitter in the universe on the road: .390/.461/.463.
Bourn is batting .458 with a .519 OBP the last seven games during which time he’s swiped five bases.
Byrd has two hits or more in three of four games. He’s gone deep twice in those four contests. He has two homers, eight RBIs and a .313 average against Lackey over 32 at-bats.
Cruz is still playing in Colorado and he has a homer in 4-straight games. He has 11 hits in those four games.
Happ stands for hapless, so feel solid about starting Fowler. When a lefty has been on the bump this season Fowler has a .324 average and .400 OBP.
Markakis has hit .319 with a .390 OBP at night this season. He has a 10-game hitting streak (.341). He’s hitting .333 with a .429 OBP over 21 plate appearances against Peavy.
Rios has been blah since the Break, but look at his BvP against Verlander: 16-for-43 (.372) leading to a .960 OPS over 47 plate appearances.
Ruf has hit .370 with a 1.037 OPS over 54 at-bats against lefties. He’s gone 5-for-12 with a homer and three RBIs against Wood.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 8 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).